I see there are a couple of posts regarding the inability to add .dat files to Vault when "Disable check in of design files" is enabled...however, I think the solutions proposed by Autodesk are unacceptable.
.dat files are used for all sorts of software, not just "design files". For Autodesk to assume .dat files are design files is a little bit crazy don't you think?
The first solution, recommended by Autodesk, is to allow the check in of design files...or even temporarily allow a user to add the .dat file. So in other words, you want us to toggle this feature every time we need to work with .dat files? Also, if you're not an administrator, you can't make this change. I hope you all realize the potential problems associated with permanently allowing users to check-in design files.
The second solution was to rename the .dat files...which we have been doing for a while and works well...however this gets extremely cumbersome when actually checking out the files to work with them in a program and having to rename (or unzip) all of the files back to .dat extensions. It's an extra PAINFUL step. And lately, this is becoming an issue.
A third solution was to use Inventor to add project...the problem is that these users may not have Inventor installed. Let me remind you that Vault is touted as an all-file data management solution...not just CAD data management system. We are trying to use Vault for all of our department's files...but you've made it very difficult to do so.
So if I'm going to complain, I'm also going to offer a solution:
Why can't there be an administrative control that allows an admin to select the file types that are considered "design files"? Why is a .dat file even considered a design file?
And more importantly, to get us a temporary fix...Is there a registry setting that can be changed which would remove .dat files from the extensions listed as design files?
